Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.

Less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door, police shot Yong Yang in his parents’ Koreatown home while he was holding a knife during a bipolar episode.

Parents in Los Angeles’ Koreatown called for mental health help in the middle of their son’s bipolar episode this month. Clinical personnel showed up — and so did police shortly after.

Police fatally shot Yong Yang, 40, who had a knife in his hand, less than 10 seconds after officers opened the door to his parents’ apartment where he had locked himself in, newly released bodycam video shows.

Now the parents of Yang, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 15 years ago, have told NBC News exclusively that they are disputing part of the account captured on bodycam, in which police recount a clinician’s saying Yang was violent before the shooting on May 2.

  • tortillaPeanuts@lemmy.world
    1·
    6 months ago

    They likely knew he was actively wielding bladed weapons.

    I watched the full video. They were repeatedly told he didn’t have any weapons. The clinician just said the man was violent and kicked him.

    I have no idea why they didn’t use less than lethal first, they talk about it but I don’t know which officer was tasked with it. It seems like they didn’t expect him to be armed when they entered.